Marketing Research and Information Systems

1. Continuous marketing and financial data which is transformed for the needs of the marketing managers
2. Store and analyse salesforce data to increase effectiveness of salesforce

   Nota:

   • Example: Sales achieved, number of calls made, size of orders, number of new accounts opened

Nota:

• Example: Management may look at how sales have reacted to a price increase or a change in advertising copy

1. Provides an early warning system for the potential threats to the company's products and marketing in the future
2. Enables the organization to act to, rather than react to, opportunities and threats
3. Focuses on the long term

1. The gathering of data and information about markets and consumer reactions to various marketing mix decisions
2. Focuses more on the short term
3. Types:
   1. External continuous data sources
      1. Television audience monitoring, consumer panels where household purchases are recorded over time, loyalty cards, e-commerce
   2. External ad hoc data
      1. Surveys for specific marketing issues like usage and attitude studies, advertising and product testing, and corporate image research
         1. Telephone interviews and face-to-face attitude surveys (traditional methods)
         2. Email surveys and online polls; real-time audio and online video discussions; digital discussion groups in social media (modern methods)

Nota:

• This information cannot be gathered from the company's internal parts because their perception of what the consumer wants and needs is different than the reality

1. Has marketing staff but has low or no marketing budget so marketers conduct the research themselves
2. Disadvantage: responses may be biased through respondents' awareness of who is asking the questions
3. Feasable when sample sizes are small and staff is trained and skilled

1. Hiring marketing research executive who has professional specialist skills. He can design, implement and present marketing research surveys to marketing management

1. Design and analyse the study in-house Hire marketing agency for fieldwork

1. The company provides only its requirements for the marketing research, everything else is handled by the agency

1. Focuses on a specific marketing problem and collects data at one point in time from one sample of respondents

   Nota:

   • Examples: Usage and attitude surveys, product and concept tests, advertising development and evaluation studies, corporate image surveys, and customer satisfaction surveys
2. Custom-designed studies
   1. Based on specific needs of client. Can be expensive
3. Omnibus studies
   1. A regular survey, usually operated by a marketing research specialist company, which asks questions of respondents for several clients on the same questionnaire (face-to-face or telephone interview questionnaire)
      1. Questionnaire space is bough by many clients so they benefit from cost sharing

1. Gathers information from external sources on an ongoing basis
2. Consumer panels
   1. Household consumers who provide information on their purchases over time
   2. Diaries are most widely used. Nowadays, more digital and online technology is involved in the data collection process
   3. Online face-to-face sessions are used for gathering consumers' top-of-the-mind data (Ideation panel sessions)
3. Retail audits
   1. Tracking the sales of products through retail outlets (e.g. supermarkets) by laser scanning the barcodes
   2. Can't get data on brand loyalty and switching but provide accurate assessment on sales achieved by store
4. Television viewership panels
   1. Measure audience size. The electronic equipment in the panel members' home registers who is watching television, what they are watching, when channels are changed, when the viewer leaves the room and more
   2. Commercial breaks are allocated rating points, which are the currency by which television advertising is bought and judged
5. Marketing databases
   1. Loyalty cards
      1. Information is used to produce personalized marketing and sales promotion initiatives
6. Customer relationship management systems
   1. Data generated at different stages (customer aquisition, retention and relationship development) needs to be brought together into an integrated system
      1. Can create competitive advantage through gaining consumer insight
7. Website analysis
   1. Example: most frequently accessed item on page, length of stay, when products are purchased; how well the site loads and downloads, ranking in search results of search engines, number of links from other sites

1. 2. Exploratory research
   1. 3. Main data-collection stage
      1. 4. Data analysis and interpretation
         1. 5. Report writing and presentation
            1. Contents of report:
               1. Title page
               2. List of contents
               3. Preface (brief, objectives, scope and method of research)
               4. Summary of conclusions and recommentations
               5. Previous related research
               6. Research method
               7. Research findings
               8. Conclusions
               9. Appendices
         2. With care
            1. Common mistake is inferring cause and effect when only a relationship has been established
      2. Types
         1. Descriptive research
            1. Describes consumers' beliefs, attitudes, preferences and behaviour
         2. Experimental research
            1. Establish cause and effect by eliminating other explanations of the changes in the dependent variabe
      3. Research design
         1. The sampling process
            1. Selection of a sub-set of the total population in order to interview them
            2. 1. Define the population, which is the subject of the research
               1. 2. Search for sampling frame
                  1. 3. Select the sample
                  2. Specify sampling method
                     1. Random sampling
                        1. Everyone on the list has an equal chance of selection
                     2. Stratified random sampling
                        1. Population is broken down into groups and random selection is carried out within the groups
                           1. Ensures that each group is represented in the sample
                     3. Quota sampling
                        1. There is no sampling frame (list) but the % of groups within the population is known
                           1. The representative groups within the sample must be in the same ratio
                        2. Not everyone has an equal chance of selection but is much less expensive
                  3. Determine sample size
                     1. The larger the size, the more correct the representation is
                     2. In practice, it is based on the balance between sampling (statistical) error and cost considerations
                  4. A list/record of the chosen population from which a sample can be selected
         2. The survey method
            1. Face-to-face interviews
            2. Telephone interviews
            3. Mail surveys
            4. Internet surveys
         3. Questionnaire design
      4. Quantitative research methods are most appropriate. There are exceptions
         1. Quantitative research is a structured study of small or large samples using a predetermined list of questions or criteria
   2. The preliminary exploration of a research area prior to the main data-collection stage
   3. Purpose is to avoid omitting important things from the research and to avoid admitting unnecessary things, i.e. get acquainted with the market and also to understand the people who are to be interviewed in the third stage
   4. Secondary research
      1. Data that have already been collected by another researcher for another purpose
      2. Internal records, reports and previous own research
      3. Government and EU statistics
      4. Market reports
      5. Market directories
      6. Newspapers, journals, magazines
      7. Internet
         1. Be careful for info credibility
      8. Necessary so primary research doesn't cover what is already available in secontary sources
   5. Qualitative research
      1. Aims to understand consumers' attitudes, values, behaviours and beliefs (small sample)
      2. Focus groups
         1. 6-12 people discussing an aspect of a company's marketing
         2. There is a moderator/group leader who is often a psychologist
         3. Can be helpful in the later design of the questionnaire which can be more respondent-orientated rather than marketer-orientated
         4. Cons: interpretation of results is highly subjective, results' quality depends on moderator's skills, small sample size => difficult generalization, research may be biased because of "research groupies" who return again and again
         5. Internet can be an advantage

            Nota:

            • online focus groups (less costs, more opportunities for interaction, participants may be more honest; body language ques can be missed); internet communities, social media sites, chat rooms (more time to think about answers)
      3. In-depth interviews
         1. 1-2-hour individual interview about one topic
         2. Used when group interaction can negatively influence the results, researchers are interested in the individual answers, and when organizing a group is not feasible
      4. Generalization of results should be handled with care
      5. Done with actual and potential buyers
   6. Consultation with experts
      1. Not necessarily part of the target market
      2. They can provide valuable background information, and can be useful for predicting future trends and developments
   7. Observation
      1. Ethnography
         1. A form of qualitative research which involves detailed and prolonged observation of consumers in the situations which inform their buying behaviour
         2. Methods: direct observation, interviews, video and audio recordings
         3. Objectve: to close the gap between what people say they do and what they actualy do
      2. When product field is unfamilliar
      3. Mystery shoppers - trained people who act like normal customers but ask specific questions to assess the quality of the service
      4. Watching purchasing behaviour
2. 1.1. Initial contact
   1. 1.2. Research brief
      1. 1.3. Research proposal
         1. Defines what the marketing research agency promises to do for its client, and how much it will cost
         2. Should be in written form to minimize misunderstandings
         3. Should include:
            1. A statement of objectives
            2. What will be done
               1. Unambiguous description of the research design: survey method, type of sample, size of sample, how fieldwork will be controlled
            3. Timetable
            4. Costs
         4. Tips for proposal assessment
            1. Beware of vagueness
               1. Means the agency itself does not know what to do exactly
            2. Beware of jargon
            3. Beware of what is missing

               Nota:

               • Example: If it is not mentioned a presentation won't be given, then assume it will not take place. Any doubts, ask the agency
      2. Explain the marketing problem, the research objectives and what the results will be used for

         Nota:

         • Example: Marketing problem - attract new customers Research objectives - identify customers (market segments) who might need the product and the characteristics of the product that appeal to them most
      3. Provide information:
         1. Background information (product's history and competitive situation)
         2. Sources of information
         3. The scale of the project (has implications for the research design and survey costs)
         4. The timetable
      4. Given by the client. Should be in written form to minimize misunderstandings
      5. Suggestions for good research buy
         1. Define terms clearly
         2. Beware of researchers who bend research problems so that they can use their favourite technique
            1. Can lead to irrelevant information and unnecessary expense
         3. Do not be put off by seemingly naive researchers who ask what appear to be simple questions
         4. Brief two or three agencies
   2. The company contacts its internal marketing research department or an external marketing agency. Discuss the nature of the problem and the client's research needs